Architecture of a National Literature in Africa

8/2/2019 Architecture of a National Literature in Africa

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Architecture of a National Literature in Africa: Problematics of Identity and Structure

Author(s): Michael C. MbabuikeReviewed work(s):Source: Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue Canadienne des tudes Africaines, Vol.29, No. 3 (1995), pp. 482-495Published by: Canadian Association of African StudiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/486019 .

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Architecture of a National Literature in Africa:Problematics of Identity and StructureMichael C. Mbabuike

Literaryhistorians and analysts continue to debate and quarrelover theconcepts and definitions of literature in Africa. The general discourserevolves around the relevancy, possibility, andpracticalityof a national lit-erature within or beyond the territorial confines of African countries.Quite often, greatwriters and literary philosophersof Africaproposediver-gent views of the meanings, functions, style, language,and architecture ofAfrican literature. Not only does the colonial heritage divide, but mostimportantly, ideological and local realities shape and influence Africanwritersdifferently.The most obvious element in this balkanization of African literature islanguage, both European and ethnic languages. Leopold Sedar SenghorpraisesFrench,canonizing it as "the languageof the gods";Chinua Achebeemphasizes the merits of Englishas one of the principalmedia of commu-nication in a multiethnic nation;JamesNgugi resolves to write only in hisnative Gikuyi, but teaches at New York University. The concept of anational literaturein Africa, therefore,poses a difficultquestion.Africanliterature,similar to the history andethnographyof all Africa,iscomplex, large,and diverse.Also, along the lines of Africa'sexperiences inthe last five hundredyears, it has undergoneextensive anddebilitatingmar-ginalization and balkanization. The conference held in Berlin in 1884-85,underthe aegisof Bismarck,finalized andconsolidated the scramblefor,andpartition of, Africa. The act abolished existing demographicand nationalboundariesandcreatednew territories,without considerationfor ethnic andecstatic traditions.ContemporaryAfricainherited these colonial creationsof new countries and boundaries;different ethnic groups were forced toshare nationalities; traditionalkingdoms were abolished; in fact, nothingremained the same. It becomesveryproblematicto conceive a national liter-ature within these newly carvedout countries, yet it is equally impossible toapplythe term "nationalliterature"to all of Africa.How, then, do we define a national literature?The term could mean thetotality of literarycreations of a nation, forexample, of Senegal, Nigeria, orKenya.This literaturebecomes national in the sense that all of the creators

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483 Mbabuike: Architecture of a National Literature in Africaof this literature have undergone a common experience since colonialism,and their works, written in the same language, discuss the same themes.However, national literature is also problematic when we consider that in anAfrican country today, there are several ethnic groups, each with its own lan-guage, culture, and world view. Is it easier then, or ideal, to speak of ethnicliteratures within the same country?The Berlin conference created a challenge to all of Africa. Africans, conse-quently, fought back. However, the bitter socio-political and military con-frontations between the European and African worlds resulted in the politi-cal and econo-cultural domination of the continent by invaders who weredetermined to condemn and eliminate all that appeared different from theirown understanding of the universe. The means to accomplish this were slav-ery, Christianization, euro-scholarization, secularization, and westernimperialism. One rallying point for all Africa was their common fate and suf-fering under various colonial administrations.The first group of young Africans, from both Africa and the BlackDiaspora, who were educated in various capitals of the West, became politi-cally conscious of their situation in the world. They then started to ask ques-tions. A painful and bitter socio-political and cultural struggle ensued,nationalism and Negritude becoming major weapons of combat for them.These young Africans, who wrote before and after the two world wars,became the fathers of African independence: Senghor, Aime Cesaire, LeonDamas, Azikiwe, Nkurumah, Nyerere, Kenyatta, and others. The war waswaged in books, poems, novels, and dramas depicting Africa's past glories,protests, and claims. These fathers of African independence havebequeathed to their people great volumes of writing that form part of thefoundations of contemporary African literature.

However, as African countries gained independence and emphasized theirterritorial boundaries, the great militant lyric poetry that had prevailed inthe pre-independence period disappeared. While post-colonial African nov-els, poetry, and drama give new scope and interpretations to African litera-ture, post-colonial authors express their hopes, disappointments, and, espe-cially, their undying attachment to mother Africa. Written works and objec-tives have both multiplied and changed. Africa has become the main focus oftheir work: Mongo Betti, Kamara Laye, Ousemane Sembene, Ngugi, Achebe,Cyprain Ekewensi, Wole Soyinka, and others. They provide incisive cri-tiques of contemporary Africa. Most try to find a middle ground where thebest of the West and of Africa can combine to fit the needs of new Africannations. Politics, corruption, nepotism, poverty, and cultural hybridizationhave become the new themes and preoccupations of today's writers who arenow the mouth, head, and conscience of their people. John Ekwere of Nigeriain his poem "Rejoinder" extols a major message in African literature: that


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484 CJAS / RCEA29:3 1995contemporary African writers should now be concerned primarily withAfrica and take part in correcting any anomalies that exist:

Now no morethe pale-faced trangerswith unhallowed feet.The heritageof ourfathersprofanenow no missioned benevolentdespotsbull-doze on unwilling raceno more the foreignhawkson alien chickens prey.Butwe on us (1962,68).

For some of these contemporary writers, "national literature" is too limitinga term. They feel that the present-day territorial boundaries contradict theirglobal or continental view of literature. The multiplicity of nations in Africamakes this notion even more problematic. Many countries harbor the sameethnic groups, use a European language as the lingua franca, and have under-gone the same colonial experiences. Some such as Ahmadou Kourouma,author of Les Soleils des Independence, argue that it would make more senseto classify African literature in Euro-linguistic groups: Francophone, Anglo-phone, Arabophone, Hispanophone, and Lusophone. But the question here iswhether a national literature peculiar to each country exists within alinguistic grouping. For example, is a common Euro-linguistic heritage suffi-cient to generate a national literature? Within these countries, ethnic lan-guages start to emerge and dominate oral expression, giving birth to newforms of linguistic innovations: pigin French and a new form of English,which are based on local ethnic languages such as Kourouma in The Suns ofIndependence and Achebe in Things Fall Apart and other works. Also, can acommon colonial heritage overcome differing ethnocentrism within theseAfrican countries? Again, how far are European languages apt to shape andexpress Africa national literature? Finally, who are the consumers of litera-ture written in European languages?

Many African writers worry about their audience: the majority of Afri-cans remain illiterate and, therefore, unable to read and understand Euro-pean languages. Audio-visual literature sometimes serves as a solution, butit has limited applications. In colonial Africa, filmed documentaries wereoften used to instruct people on the issues, history, and politics of Europe.Many of the documentaries were silent movietones, but some were spokenin European languages. Often, interpretations of the films' contents weregiven to natives who were illiterate in European languages and could onlyunderstand the films in their native ones. Contemporary African socio-liter-ary activists - Ousemane Sembene, Momar Thiam, Mohama F. Traore, andTidiane Aw - resort to audio-visualism to bring their works to the masses.


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486 CJAS/RCEA 9:3 1995For instance, the author talks directly to his audience - his own people whoare very dear to him - whom he wants to entertain, inspire, and, especially,arouse to action. Only the native vernacular, which uses local decor, idioms,proverbs, and various nuances of the people's own language, can reach andtouch them in such a manner. Ngugi realized this particular use of the ver-nacular among autochthons. Commending the reactions of villagers to hisNguahika Ndeenda, he attributes the play's success to the vernacular usedit:

Andbecausethere was no languagebarrier,he villagerscouldalso comment onthe content of the play.There was no mystificationof the play'smessage- theycould now participate n correcting he content of the script(Mbele 1992, 146).

Language stands out, therefore, as one of the major factors militating againsta national literature in any given African country. African intellectuals havemastered European languages, and most of them are obliged to write in theseforeign languages as a means of reaching all ethnic groups in their respectivecountries. In addition, some critics and writers believe that because theywrite in European languages, African writers receive international exposure.Thus, both African writers and literature continue to be assessed and catego-rized by forces outside of Africa. Not only the subject of the work, but alsothe style and, specifically, language in which it is written, also continue tocreate numerous controversies all over Africa. The frequently asked, butnever satisfactorily answered, question is whether European languagesexpress and do justice to African thought and feelings. We should rememberthose prophetic words of Caliban to Prospero:

Youtaughtme language,and-I know how to curse.The plagueridyouFor earningme your language.

African writers, such as Achebe, Ngugi, Sembene, Soyinka, Buchi Emecheta,and others, have more than once delved into the language controversyinvolved in creating literature. The more militant among them earnestlybelieve that African cultural identity is being smothered by the increasinguse of European languages to express Africa's reality. Although some writersdo not consider "language" a major problem today, resentment abounds, par-ticularly among those who claim that the rigid and inevitable use of foreignlanguages kills their mother tongues. They cite the ethno-linguist, BenjaminLee Whorf, who claims that it is the language people speak at birth thatshapes and structures their realities of life and sense of justice, good, and self.

How, then, can a foreign language, more precisely European languages,express African realities and cultural nuances? For most Africans, European


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487 Mbabuike:Architectureof a National Literature n Africalanguages, especially theirwritten versions, are still unfamiliar. With thou-sands of ethnic groupsall overAfrica and with each Africancountryharbor-ing hundredsof ethnics, it might seem that European anguagessatisfy theimperatives of political expediency and solve many of the socio-linguisticconflicts that would exist if one ethnic languagewere chosen over the oth-ers. Some critics would argue, however, that by adoptinga European an-guageas a lingua franca, an Africancountry sacrifices its cultural soul andidentity in favor of an artificiallinguistic unity.Alain Ricard (1976, 1987, 1993) explains that literary creation is, first ofall, a linguistic creativity and that in Africa,as in other places, it is not aquestion of overhauling linguistic heritage,but of exploringandexploitingall its virtues. Malchily Gassama insists:

Our black writers must first think in their maternallanguagesandthen trans-pose their ideas into a borrowed anguage,a "foreign"anguage earnt not frombirth,but at an age where their senses have been impacteduponby all sorts ofsolicitations (1978, I9).

Willard Quine (1969) would argue that individuals do not think in borrowedlanguages. Rationalizations, thinking processes, and evaluative referencesare normally carried out in one's original language, and all efforts or exer-cises to express one's innermost feelings and values in a language other thanone'smother tongue couldonly endin approximations Quine1960, 26).Theapplication of such a line of reasoning would, therefore, jeopardize theexpression of African ethnic literatures in European languages and furthercomplicate the structure and identity of a national literature in any countryof Africa today. Quine's theory would result in the excessive production oftribal literatures whose only audience would be members of that ethnicgroup. It would also limit both exchange and knowledge, as each people andrace would keep to itself and its literary productions. Nevertheless, accord-ing to Quine, an ethnic, as opposed to a national, literature would emphasizethe cultural patrimony of different ethnic components of a country or race.But this is obviously a literature of exclusion that will, instead of enriching,diminish cultural interaction.

Literature in ethnic languages should exist equally in a language commonto all members of the nation, despite the demerits of linguistic approxima-tions. One of the proposed remedies for multilinguistic obstacles to anational literature is the translation of all ethnic literatures into all the eth-nic languages of a given country, including its borrowed European language.Apart from the various logistical problems of such an effort, numerous otherhandicaps would, if not completely destroy, greatly impoverish the texts.Many African countries do not even possess the financial and technologicalmeans to handle such adventuresome projects. And even when such massive


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488 CJAS / RCEA 29:3 1995translations arecompleted, the text would only be a linguistic andcontentapproximation.Noam Chomsky would disagreewith the approximationtheory.Individ-uals are capableof thinking and expressingtheir thoughts in differentlan-guages simultaneously (Chomsky 1972, 81). Children and adults of multi-cultural amdmultiethnic backgroundsareequallyfluent in all the languagesto which they are exposed. Furthermore, Chomsky stipulates that allhumans possess "common linguistic clues" that facilitate perfect multil-ingualism (Chomsky 1972, 66). It is, therefore,hoped that different ethnicgroups in an Africancountry, taking advantageof their common socio-eco-nomic and political situations, would increase and maintain interethnic,socio-linguistic socialization andthat soon languagewould no longerbe thebarrier o acommon literature- a national one. Some other critics maintainthat since within Africancountries therearealso ethnic minorities, writersof minority ethnic groupswould betterservetheirpeople by writing in Euro-pean languagesforexposureandwideraudience.Forthese supportersof for-eign languageuse, anyauthor could write in any languageof choice.Forsome others,Africashould,while using Europeananguages,promoteand keep African languagesalive. Achebe writes equally magnificently inIgboas in English.Ngugi uses Gikuyi as comfortablyas he uses English.TheAfricanwriter Africanizesa European anguage,manipulatingthe borrowedlanguage to express his sociocultural needs, sometimes inventing unusualexpressions that have not, until now, been found in Europeanliterature,often making mockery of the language,but, most importantly,reaching awider audience internationally.Writing n TheGrowthof theAfricanNovel,Eustace Palmer comments that Achebe alters English to reflect nativeNigerian languages n use. Palmer observes:

Without seriously distorting the nature of the English, Achebe deliberatelyintroduces the rhythms, speech patterns, idioms and other verbal nuances ofIbo.... The effect of this is that while everyonewho knows Englishwill be ableto understand he workand findfew signs ofawkwardness, he readeralsohas asense, not just of Blackmen using English,but of Black Africansspeakingandliving in a genuinelyBlack Africanruralsituation (Palmer1972, 6o).

In fact, the market demandforpublishedworks in Europeanor African lan-guages determines, to a greater extent, the politics of publishing. Some crit-ics argue that most African literature is published and sold outside the conti-nent where readership is plenty. Many of the great novels of Africa have beentranslated into almost all European languages; then they are sold as sourcesof foreign exchange. These critics cite very few African novels translatedinto African languages. In fact, Anglophone Africans are often ignorant ofFrancophone and Lusophone African literature because of linguistic and


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489 Mbabuike:Architectureof a National Literature n Africaneo-colonial barriers.At the conference of the Dakar Biennial, held inDecember 199o, a committee was formedto look into this problemand tofind the means of facilitatingthe translationof literaryworksinto bothotherAfrican anguagesand the differentEuropean anguagesused in variouspartsof Africa.The ever fluctuatingeconomic woes of Africa areresponsiblefor the sadstate of the publishing and translation industry. Inflation and the generalindigency of the masses force writers into economic exile in Europe andAmerica;this exodus contributes to the brain drainplaguingthe continent.There is an obvious increasein the internationalization of the Africanvoicethroughthe written works that arepublishedin the industrializednations ofNorth America and Europe.As long as socio-political and economic strifecontinue to affect Africanpeoples,Africanliteraturewill, therefore,remainoutside the continent; as Senghorwould put it, this literature is "une jazzorpheline qui sanglotte, sanglotte, sanglotte" (an orphaned jazz whichweeps, weeps, weeps) (Mbabuike1989, 30). In this way, Africawill continueto lose, because Africanliterature,while treatinguniversal themes, shouldbenefit, first andforemost,all of Africa. While in exile, it exerts a minimumimpact on the peoplebackhome, while for Africans n bothpolitical andeco-nomic exile in terraaliena, it serves as a nostalgic reminderof what couldhave been, forsome, a badgeof identity.Africanwriters, following the traditionsof their bardsandgriots,serve asthe pulse and mouthpiece of the people. Through their writing, they com-ment on socio-politicalsubjects.The thematic thrust of theirnovels, poems,andplays exploresAfrica'srelationshipswith the outside worldandAfrica'shandlingof its own problems. Nationalism, negritude, and assimilationistpolicies have become an integral part of this literature of affirmation andprotest. The sociopolitical and economic tendencies of the continent aredepicted variously to correspondwith the differentEuropeancultural andlinguistic divides of Africa.Soyinka,Achebe,Ngugi, and other Anglophonewriters, forinstance, would insist on that version of nationalism that reluc-tantly compromises with neocolonialist and neoimperialist interests inAfrica. The Francophones,meanwhile, spend inordinate time and energybegging acceptanceinto the French-controlledworldorder,and most writersunder South Africanregimes labor for either recognition or mere physicalsurvival because of the persistent vicissitudes of diabolic apartheid, evenyearsafter its abolition.

Even where there are common themes and concerns, the approachestosolutions conspicuously varyin the written and oral literature from the dif-ferentareasof European nfluence in Africa.Soyinkaandsome otherAnglo-phonewritersridiculedthewhole conceptofnegritudethatwas spearheadedby Senghor,Damas, andCeasair.The notion of "meti-culturalism"does not


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agree with most Anglophones who feel strongly that the Francophones havesold out. In this regard, they often cite as an example Senghor's "Pribre auxPaix," in which he declares that France occupies a special part in his heartand prays to God to specially forgive France. For them, the FrancophoneWest Indians are often too angry, turbulent, and coercive, not having experi-enced the tranquility and continuity of growing up in the African ancestralland. Some critics argue that while African literature does exist, regional andnational literatures on the continent reflect the multicultural and multieth-nic diversity of Africa, and herein lies the beauty and strength of this litera-ture. European literature, after all, also includes French, English, German,and Irish literatures, all of which are written in their languages. These Euro-pean languages are greatly responsible for determining the real nature ofEuropean literature. The language question is, therefore, unavoidable. Afri-can regional literatures may thus be better served if written in their nativelanguages. Francis Bacon would argue that, "men imagine that their mindshave the command of language, but it often happens that language bears ruleover their minds" (Churchill 1986, 61).

However, others maintain that it does not matter what language a writeruses; instead, what counts is how he makes use of that language. These crit-ics claim that a language is universal. Abdelhak Serhane, in his clumsyattempt to universalize language, thus asks:

Which language?They don'tknow that you write in yourown language.It oranotherone is always your homeland. Youare the languagethat you use. Butyou arenot its slave- Languagedoesn'tbelongto anyone.Itdoesn't have bound-aries. Itbelongsto everyonewho uses it (1992, 189).

One may agree with Serhane that by loving a language, a writer can use thatloved language better, but if that language is foreign to the writer, it may notbe capable of expressing all the intricate cultural and socioreligious minds ofthe writer, nor of the writer's people. The debate will always ask the questionwhether a foreign language can really "express all the passion, all theanguish, all the elements, all the suns, all the memories.. ." (Serhane 1992,I89). One is inclined to cite as examples very successful writers who haveused foreign languages most creatively: Achebe, Soyinka, Diop, Senghor, andothers. These writers may agree with Achebe when he concludes:

The African writershouldaim to use Englishin a way that bringsout his mes-sagebest without alteringthe language o the extent that its value as a mediumof the internationalexchangewill be lost. He should aim at fashioningout anEnglish which is universal and able to carryhis peculiarexperience(Achebe1975, Ioo).It is now said that the world is becoming such a universal village where lan-guage barriers may soon be a thing of the past. Until this happens, however,


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491 Mbabuike: Architecture of a National Literature in Africathe Wolof "Nagedef" and the Igbo "Iputago Ula" will continue not only toshower ceremonial greetings, but also to go beyond words to each ethnicgroup's sense of respect, love, and brotherhood.Another critic, K.R. Angogo, praises Achebe's "ability to shape and moldEnglish to suit character and event and yet still give the impression of anAfrican story" (1983, 19). Ahmadou Kourouma, in all his writing in French,and especially in Les Soleils des Independences, uses copious idioms, prov-erbs, and rhetorics of the Malinke ethnic group. Malinke words and expres-sions are used exactly as they are in the language of his people, in aword-by-word translation into French. Achebe addresses this problem whenhe explains his own thinking on the language controversy:

... Ofcourse there areareasof Africawherecolonialism dividedupa singleeth-nic group among two or three powers. But on the whole it did bring togethermany peoplesthat had hithertogone theirseveralways. Andit gavethem a lan-guagewith which to talk to one another....What I dosee is a new voice comingout ofAfrica,speakingof Africanexperi-ence in a world-widelanguage.So my answerto the question "Canan Africanever learn Englishwell enoughto be able to use it effectively in creative writ-ing?"is certainly yes. If on the other handyou ask, "Canhe ever learn to use itlike a native speaker?" shouldsay,Ihopenot. It is neithernecessarynordesir-ablefor him to be able to do so. The pricea worldlanguagemust be preparedopay is submission to many different kinds of use .... He [the Africanwriter]should aim at fashioningout an Englishwhich is at once universal and able tocarryhis peculiarexperience" 1975, 10x).

Further, Senghor's attachment to French language is more than a passingfancy, but an integral part of his multicultural experience. In postscript to"Ethiopique," he sings his love for the French language:

I know its [French] esources fromhavingtasted it, chewed it, taught it, and Iknow it is the languageof the gods. ... It is in turn,orsimultaneously,the flute,the trumpet, the tam-tam,and even the cannon.And French has given us thegift of its restrictedwords- so rare n ourmotherlanguage where tearsbecomeprecious stones. With us our words are naturally haloed with blood andstrength;the tones of Frenchglitterwith a thousandfires,like diamonds. Rock-ets that light ournight"(Senghor1964, 355).

We may not agree completely with Senghor's evaluation of French, espe-cially with his comparison of French to his African language; nevertheless,Senghor succeeds in using French to express and emphasize his cultural heri-tage and his burning negritude. But Daniel P. Kunene, in his essay on "Afri-can Language Literature: Tragedy and Hope," underscores the importance ofEuropean and African languages in African literature. Kunene further warns


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492 CJAS RCEA 9:3 1995that if African critics do not take charge of their own fate and their own lan-guages by promoting the use of the vernacular in African literature, theseAfrican critics will have themselves to blame. Kunene insists "that there aretwo streams of literature on the African continent, namely literatures in theEuropean languages ("African" Literature) and literatures created in severalhundred African languages spread throughout the continent" (1992, Io). Dis-cussing the nature of African literature in European languages, Jean Paul Sar-tre, in his Black Orpheus, suggests: "Since the oppressor is present even inthe language that Africans speak, they will use that language to destroy him"(1963, 24).

Many pan-Africanists such as Nkrumah, Nyerere, Azikiwe, and otherswould agree with this view of Sartre regarding the use of the European lan-guage to fight euro-imperialism, but Kunene and others would argue thatsuch unity belongs to political demands and not to the artistic creativityneeded for producing literary works. African literature written in Africanlanguages has a much better effect on the people than do works written inEuropean languages. This is especially evident when we compare the reac-tions of two groups of Africans who have read the same work in different lan-guages, the vernacular and a European language (Ngugi 1986, 44). AkinwumiIsola, discussing the importance of using, promoting, and sustaining Africanlanguages in African literature, warns:

The rich resourcesof Africanlanguages,Literature,religion,culture, and Phi-losophyarebeing tappedonly to behurriedly ranslatedandgiven literary ormin a foreign anguage,wherethey remainforever naccessibleto the originalpro-ducers of these materials.Under such circumstances,the traditionalpurposeofliteratureis beingbastardized n contemporaryAfrica(1992, 17).

Some other African writers have condemned the use of European languages,complaining that their native languages are disappearing and giving theirplace to European languages, thus increasing cultural hybridization amongAfricans. The only viable way to combat this linguistic and cultural margin-alization, according to such writers, is to refuse all foreign languages andwrite only in native languages. Niyi Osundare expresses his thoughts on thelanguage issue in these soul-searching words:

The way out of the problemis surelynot a furtherdesperate,but all-too-oftenthwartedstrivingformasteryin the white man'slanguage,butrather n an hon-est and single-minded cultivation of the indigenous languages by plumbingtheirartistic depthsanddiscoveringtheirexpressive possibilities. The creativewritershould be rightin the forefront n this vanguard orlinguistic homecom-ing. Ngugi has alreadyshown the way.The futureof African iteratureand cul-ture belongs to African languages;Europeanlanguages may peep from the


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493 Mbabuike: Architecture of a National Literature in Africaperiphery,ertainly otthe center.Forno matterhowheroicallyCalibanmaytry,he can neverhopeto beatProsperot his ownlinguisticgame 1992,88).

This type of attitude concerningthe use of Europeanand Africanlanguagesfurther exacerbates the incongruities surroundinga national literature inany given Africancountry.When literatureis written in an ethnic languagethat excludes almost all the otherethnic groups n that country,the questionthen is whether this promotes ethnic, tribal literatureor literature of exclu-sion. Would such a practicethen make African literature a loose confedera-tion of independentethnic literatures?The importanceandimpact of ethniccosmology are indisputablefactors in character ormation.It is culture thatgives the writer "the depthsof experience"(Said 1989, 205-25).Senghorwarns that writers of African descent must write to parade heirAfricanity- in terms of style, diction, andthemes - no matterwhat languagethey use. He insists that Africanpoetrymust draw its resourcesandinspira-tion from native roots and cultural milieu. Senghor expresses it thus: "It isenough for me to name things, those elements of my childhoodkingdom, toprophesy the City of Tomorrow that would be born from the ashes of thePast, and that is the mission of the poet" (1961, 34). The critic ThomasMelon emphasizes this vital bond of the writerto his universe:

The importance f the land thatsustains he naturalanguage eednot beproved.texplainshe ntensityofemotions hatoften purtromalldirections,it delimitsGeography,ircumscribeshe local ield nsidewhichthe influenceofatraditionalphere, osmology,eligion ndsenseofbelongingrepracticedas wellas thedeep orceswhichformandshape heinfantilepersonality.Wediscover t again n Mythology.n otherwords, n thehighest ormsof localcolor(1970, 43).ManyAfricanauthorshavesuccessfully used the experiencesof their "child-hood kingdom" to write their great works, even in European languages.Senghor,for example, writes in French and translates his people's tales andfables into French.His writing is living testimonial of bicultural and bilin-gual experiences. Okigbowrote aboutAfrican,ormore exactly, Igbothemesandvalues in classical English. Laye,Kourouma,Oyono, Awoonor,Ekwensi,and others have also used European anguages well enough to underscoretheirnegritude.Have these novelists, poets, anddramatists created nationalliteratures in theirrespective countries?Again,must a national literature bedetermined by the nationality of its writers, the nationality of its audience,or its themes andevents as experiencedby the entire nation orcountry?Weareconfrontedwith diverse anddifferingopinionson anational litera-turein Africa.Some believe that anational literaturecomprisesall the liter-ary works by writers of the same country written in the same foreign


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494 CJAS RCEA9:3 1995language, or in an official language of the state, a type of lingua franca. AllAfrican nations canpridethemselves on havinga national literature,even ifall thewriters reatopposing nddifferinghemes.Otherswouldargue hatcolonization hasbalkanizedAfricanliteratureandthat no countrycanright-fullyclaim the existenceofa national iterature.sa national iteraturehetotality of all works of literature - written or oral, contemporary or tradi-tional - produced in different languages, but within the same territorialboundaries of one country? Questions still abound, unanswered and press-ing.

Senghor, and others would wish that all of African literature, with itsmosaic of cultures and values, glow under one umbrella of Africa, that classi-fication and categorization by states end, and that African literature becomeone and the same literature of all of Africa. Edward Said, Homi Baba,Benedict Anderson, Achebe, Ngugi, and many others have painstakingly dis-cussed the linguistic structure and context of African literature. Their "ser-mons," while casting some light on the issue, nevertheless sow more confu-sion, create more contradictions, and leave readers and critics not only withfeelings of hopelessness and emptiness, but also with a burning desire tocomprehend the very meaning of African literature.BibliographyAchebe,Chinua. 1975.MorningYetOn CreationDay. New York:Doubleday.Angogo, KanyoroR. 1983. Unity in Diversity:A LinguisticSurveyof the Abaluyia ofWesternKenya.Wien:Afro-Pub.Chomsky,Noam. 1972.Languageand Mind.New York:HarcourtBraceJovanovitch.Churchill,RobertPaul. 1986.BecomingLogical.New York:St.Martin'sPress.Ekwere,John.1962. "Rejoinder."nReflections:NigerianProseand Verse,editedbyF.Ademola.Lagos:AfricanUniversities Press.Gassama,Malchily. 1978. "In Kuma:Interrogation ur la litteraturenagrede languefrangaise."Nouvelle EditionAfricaine(Dakar/Abidjan):9.Isola, Akinwumi. I992. "The African Writer'sTongue."Research in AfricanLitera-tures 23, no. i: 17-26.Kunene,Daniel P. 1992. "African-Language iterature:TragedyandHope."Researchin African Literatures 23, no. I: 7-17.Mazrui,Ali. 1986.TheAfricans:A TtipleHeritage.Boston and Toronto:Little,BrownandCo.Mbabuike,Michael C. 1989. Notes on the Poems of L.S.Senghor,Poets of Lost Vil-lages. JerseyCity:AndreandCo.Mbele,Joseph.1992. "Languagen AfricanLiterature:An Aside to Ngugi."Researchin African Literatures 23, no. I: 145-5 I.Melon, Thomas. I970. "African Literature." Prdsence Africaine, no. 73: 3I-55.Ngugi, James. 1972.Homecoming.Westport:LawrenceHill.--. 1986.Decolonizing the Mind:ThePolitics of Language n AfricanLiterature.London:JamesCurry.Osundare,Niyi. 1992.SelectedPoems. Oxford:Heineman.Palmer,Eustace. 1972. An Introduction to the African Novel. New York:AfricanaPress.


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495 Mbabuike: Architecture of a National Literature in AfricaQuine,WillardVanOrman.1960.Wordand Object.New York:Harcourt.. 1969.Philosophyof Logic.New York:Harcourt.Ricard,Alain. 1976.Litteraturede langagesfrangaiseshors de France.Paris:J.Ducu-lot... 1987. "Museum, Mausoleum, or Market:The Concept of National Litera-ture." Research in African Literatures 18: 293-303.- . 1993. "Les litt&ratures en langages africaines: Evolutions r6cents." Revue delittgraturecomparde Paris)67, no. 1:79-88.Said, Edward. 1989. "Representingthe Colonized: Anthropology'sInterlocutors."Critical Inquiry 15: 205-2.5.Sartre,Jean-Paul.1963.Black Orpheus.Translatedby S.W.Allen. Paris:Editions Gal-limard.Senghor,LeopoldSedar.1948.Anthologie de la nouvelle pogsie negreet malgache delangagefrangaise.Paris:Pressesuniversitairesde France.- . 1964. "La litt&rature africaine d'expression frangaise." Libert zI:Nggritude ethumanism. Paris:Editions du Seuil.Serhane,Abdelhak.1992."TheCraftsmanof the Dream."Research n AfricanLitera-tures 23, no. I: 187-90.Westley,David. 1992."TheLanguageof African Literature."Research n AfricanLit-eratures 23, no. i: I53-58.

Architecture of a National Literature in Africa

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